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Recent remarks by Israeli and foreign experts all appear to confirm that Iran has already passed the "point of no return" in its quest for atomic weapons, despite years of solemn vows that the Islamic Republic would never be permitted to reach this stage in its nuclear program.

"We are going in the wrong direction and there is now certain capability," former International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Deputy Director Olli Heinonen said last week.

Heinonen noted that Iran now possesses all the material and know-how to construct the nuclear component of a warhead in less than a month, if it so chooses. In other words, Iran is already a nuclear power that just hasn't yet decided to actually build a bomb.

That assessment was backed up by Israel's former military intelligence chief, Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin, who told reporters at the Jerusalem Press Club that Iran could construct a complete nuclear warhead in three months if it began now.

Yadlin still believes America will attack Iran if all diplomatic efforts fail, and he urged Washington to not worry about full-scale war, since all that is really needed is a brief, but determined aerial campaign.

But by now, Iran, and most Israelis, understand that the West is not going to take military action to stop the Islamic Republic from going nuclear. They failed to keep the materials out of Iran's hands, they failed to prevent Iran from passing the "point of no return," and, like with North Korea, the West seems content to sit on its hands, figuratively speaking, until Tehran conducts a nuclear test.

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